A series of 10 free streamed gigs described as a “love letter to the city of Leicester” begins later this month featuring some of the best local musicians.
HOME is curated by Leicester music supremo John Helps, who is also a De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) Master’s student. Each of the gigs features a different Leicester artist in a different venue around the city. It has been supported by Arts Council England.
It begins on Saturday February 26 with singer-songwriter Grace Petrie performing at Leicester Cathedral. Grace, who has performed alongside the likes of Billy Bragg and Frank Turner, will be in the chat during the show, answering questions and giving insights into the songs as they are performed.
Later in the series, Humble He will be performing at Bishop Street Methodist Church and Courtney Askey in Leicester Museum’s Victorian Gallery.
John, who is studying Cultural Events Management, said: “I’ve been putting shows on in unusual spaces around Leicester for about 15 years - churches, art galleries, libraries… and with no way of experiencing live music in person, I really wanted to document some of those magical experiences that putting the perfect musician in the perfect context can create.
“It’s become a bit of a love letter to the city - both the musicians and the fabric of the city itself. A celebration of our home town, brought in to people’s homes, if you will.
“The hope is that it becomes a weekly part of people’s lives through the spring as we start to look forward to enjoying these experiences together again, and that people discover something new, whether it’s an artist they haven’t heard before, or a place they didn’t know was in the city… or ideally a little both."
The Facebook event for the first show can be found
here John set up the Robot Needs Home collective, a creative team that helps support artists, promoting shows, recording and releasing music. You can find details of all the HOME performances on the Robot Needs Home page here
Posted on Tuesday 16 February 2021